collins



L. J. COLLINS ELEVATORS L. J. c'oLLlNs ELEVATORS 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed May 5, 1958 INVENTOR.

United States Patent O ELEVATORS Lowell J. Collins, Oakland, Calif.

Application May 5, 1958, Serial No. 733,148

7 Claims. (Cl. 214-313) This invention relates to improvements in elevating and dumping apparatus, and provides an elevator with automatic inverting and dumping means for containers, and which elevator is of the simplest possible construction and positive in operation.

This elevator is primarily designed for elevating containers of washed curd to a predetermined elevation and automatically inverting the containers to dump the contents into cottage cheese mixers, thus increasing production and reducing manual labor in connection with the manufacture of cottage cheese and other products, though the apparatus may be used for any purpose requiring the elevating and dumping of materials, ingredients or mixes.

Furthermore, due to the positive control and simple arrangement of the carrier and inverter, the elevator can be made for use vertically or inclinedly.

This apparatus has the advantage of being limited to previously adjusted degrees of elevating and lowering movements with the elevator cradle with its container being automatically inverted when the terminal of elevating movement is attained instead of, following of the attainment of that point, the means for lifting the carrier being automatically converted into an inverting apparatus without further upward travel of the carrier.

Thus this elevator with its automatic inverting operation differentiates from my patent, No. 2,657,815, issued November 3, 1953, as also in the specific structures, operations, and arrangements of parts..

In the preparation of cottage cheese, for example, the mixers are customarily mounted in an elevated position to permit gravity flow of the cottage cheese from the bottom of the mixer to a dispensing or filling machine for dispensing cottage cheese to marketing cups, thus making the manual transfer of the washed curd and other ingredients to the mixer impractical because of the effort and labor involved and the slow addition of the various ingredients resulting in decreased production, exposure of the ingredients to the atmosphere for an extended time with consequent relative deterioration of the product, since cottage cheese and its ingredients should have minimum exposure to air to avoid introduction of airborne microorganisms, for which reasons an efficient automatic dumping elevator is most desirable.

The objects and advantages of the invention are as follows: y Y

First, to provide elevating and dumping means for containers which will automatically dump the contents from the containers Vat the predetermined degree of up-travel of the elevating means.

Second, to provide elevating means which automatically converts to inverting means when the desired terminal of up-travel is attained.

Third, to provide means as outlined in which the elevating means and inverting means are controlled by a carrier sequentially through the medium of a flexible strand.

Fourth, to provide means as outlined which is of the simplest possible construction and formed of a minimum Patented Aug. 11, 1959 lCC 2 number of parts simple in their arrangement and positive in operation.

In describing the invention reference will be had vto the accompanying drawings, in which: l

Fig. 1 is a side elevationof my invention with a portion broken out and portions of the walls broken away to show internal structures.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2"-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and showing a fragmentary portion of the housing.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged rear view of the carrier with its guiding and control mechanism and includes a fragmentary portion of the elevator with'the rear portion of the elevator housing removed and one cross member removed and the other shown fragmentarily.

The invention includes a housing having a front wall 10, side walls 11 and 12, a top wall or head 13, a base 14, with adjustable legs 15.

Mounted on the head 13 is a speed reducer 16 which is driven by a motor 17 through the pulleys 18 and 19 and belts 20 and shaft 21. The speed reducer has a shaft 22 on which the elevator head sprocket 23 is mounted, A second sprocket which is behind sprocket 23 drives a limit switch 24 through the sprocket 25 and chain 26, the limit switch being o-f standard manufacture and being adjustable for stopping the motor to stop the chain 27 at any predetermined point of travel in each direction.

The rear strand 28 of the chain operates about a foot sprocket 29 which is rotatably mounted on the base 14, and thence passes upward with the front strand operating over the rear and topof the bottom carrier idler sprocket 30, thence about the front of the carrier shaft sprocket 31 and thence about the rear of the top idler sprocket 32 and thence to the head sprocket 23.

The carrier includes a housing having a front wall 33, side walls 34 and 35, and rear wall cross members 36 and which are located to clear the carrier shaft sprocket 31. This housing operates on a column or track, shown as an I-beam 37 to the anges of which are secured the plates 38 and 39 to increase the thickness of the terminal edges of the anges. The carrier housing is provided with upper rollers 40 and lower rollers'41, upper rollers 42 and lower rollers 43 which ride on the thickened rear ilanges, and upper rollers 44 and lower rollers 45 which ride along the respective side walls of the plates, there being eight spaced rollers at the upper end of the carrier and eight at the lower end for accurate,'and substantially frictionless travel of the carrier housing on the track.`

The'carrier shaft 46 may project from-only one side, or from both sides of the housing through a vertical slot 47, depending on whether one or two mixing units are to be supplied. The slot or slots extend upwardly to the terminal of travel of the carrier shaft, and the distance from the top of the slot to the underside of the head 13 is substantially equal tothe distance4 from the top of the carrier shaft to the topfof the carrier housing.

A rail 48` is xed to the track, in this case to the web of the yI-beam and terminates at an elevation equal to the height or distance from the -bottom of the cam roller to vtheitop of the elevator housing or underside of the head 13V. -IA roller 50 is rotatably mounted on one side at the upper end of the rail, the ltop of roller being about ush with the top lend of the rail.

A cam 51 is xed on the carrier shaft and has a lroller 52 rotatablymounted' on one side at the lower edge to ride oni the"rail48 as1indicate`df`inFig. 3, the roller 52 being mounted on the opposite side of the cam as related to the roller 50 on the rail, the cam riding on roller 50, and roller 52 riding on the rail.

When containers of material are to be elevated, the reversing switch 53 is closed completing circuit to the motor 17. The motor 17 drives the sprocket 23 counterclockwise causing the front strand 54 of the chain to be drawn upwardly. The roller 52`r'ides` on the rail 48 and thus secures the carrier sprocket 31 against rotation, consequently the carrier is elevated while the carrier shaft 46 is fixed against rotation, elevating continuing until the roller52 reaches the top end l55 of the rail which frees the cam from the rail -for rotation with thearcuate face 56 of the cam riding on the roller 5l)v at the top of the rail.

Further pull on the front strand 54 of the chain merely rotates the sprocket 31 with its carrier shaft 46, inverting the cradle 57 with its container 58 to empty the contents of the container into the mixer 59, rotation of the cam 51 and'consequently that of the carrier shaft 46 is limited by the stop 60 which cooperates with the engaging member 61 which is mounted on the wall section 36.

Just previous to reaching the position of suitable inversion, the limit switch 24 breaks the circuit to the motor 17 with the container in its cradle remaining inverted, permitting manual removal of any adhering material.

When the container is to be returned, the reversing switch 53 is Aoperated to its other position, closing the circuit to the motor for reverse operation, the chain traveling in the'opposite direction and first uprighting'the cradle with its container, since there can be no lowering of the cradle until the cam face 56 rides over the front of the roller 50 and 55, following which, the roller 52 cooperates with the rail 48 followed by engagement of stop 62 with the engaging member 61, locking the sprocket 31 against rotation, following which, the cradle with its container is lowered to the base or floor.

The cradle and containers are disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial Number 732,886 filed May `5, 1958, for an automatic interlocking inverting cradle and container for elevators.

I claim:

1. An elevator, in combination, an elevator housing having a head and a base, a track extending from said base to said head, a head sprocket and driving means therefor, a foot sprocket, a chain operating about said sprockets, reversing `means for said driving means, means limiting `the travel of said chain in each direction and controlled by said chain, a carrier slidable on said track and a carrier shaft rotatably mounted in said carrier and projecting from said housing, a sprocket'fixed on said shaft within said carrier and cooperating with said chain, a cam fixed on saidy carrier shaft and having a roller mounted at the lower end on one side, a rail fixed on said track and cooperative with said roller and terminating in spaced relation below said head and having a roller mounted at its upper end on the other side relative to said first mentioned roller, arcuately spaced stops on said cam, and a cooperative stop on said carrier selectively cooperative with said stops, said cam locking said sprocket within said carrier against rotation throughout the height of said rail for elevating said carrier and thence riding on' said roller on the other side to release said sprocket within said carrier for rotation for rotating said shafts for inversion of a container carried thereby, with the degree of inversion being limited by one of said stops,reversal of the chaininitially operating to right the container followed by lowering of the carrier.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1, means in said carrierV and cooperative with said chain for maintaining continuous cooperation between the chain and said sprocket within said carrier.k

3. A combination as defined in claim 1, an upper idler in said carrierfand a 'lower idler in said carrier, with said chain operating about one side and over the top of the lower idler thence about the front of the sprocket within said carrier and thence about the bottom and said one side of the other idler to maintain continuous cooperation between the chain and the sprocket.

4. An elevator comprising a column having a head and a base, a carrier having a carrier housing slidable on said column throughout the height thereof, a head sprocket including driving means mounted on said head, a foot sprocket mounted on said base, a chain operating about said sprockets, a carrier shaft rotatably mounted in said carrier housing and projecting laterally to provide a support, a carrier sprocket fixed on said shaft and means maintaining said chain in .continuous cooperation with said carrier sprocket, a rail on said column and terminating in spaced relation below said head and having a cam roller mounted on one side at the upper end thereof, a cam fixed on-said carrier shaft and having a rail roller mounted on the opposite side as related to said cam roller to ride on said rail to lock said carrier sprocket against rotation for elevating and lowering movements of the carrier, with said cam released for rotation when said rail roller has passed the upper end of the rail for terminating elevating movement with the cam rotatably riding on the cam roller and thus rotating the carrier shaft through further operation of said chain on said carrier sprocket.

5. A structure as defined in claim 4, a lower idler mounted in said carrier below said carrier sprocket, and an upper idler mounted in said carrier above said carrier sprocket, with said chain passing about the back and over the top of the lower idler, about the front of the carrier sprocket, and about the underside and back of the upper idler and constituting the means maintaining the chain in continuous cooperation with the carrier sprocket.

6. A structure as defined in claim 4, two stops on said cam angularly spaced, and cooperative engaging means on said carrier for limiting rotation of said shaft in either direction from upright to a dumping position for a container carried by the carrier shaft.

7. An'elevato'r comprising a column having a base and a head, a head sprocket and driving means therefor, a foot sprocket, a chain operating about said sprockets, a carrier having a housing slidable on said column, a carrier shaft rotatably mounted in said carrier, a carrier sprocket fixed on said shaft, an upper idler rotatably mounted in said carrier above said carrier sprocket, a lower idler rotatably mounted in said carrier below said carrier sprocket, said chain operating about the respective sides of the lower idler, carrier sprocket, and upper idler, a cam fixed on said shaft and having a rail roller mounted on one side below the axis of the cam, a rail mounted on said column 'and cooperative with said rail roller and terminating in spaced relation below said head and having a cam roller mounted at the upper end and on the side opposite with relation to the rail roller for rotating support of said cam, said cam maintaining said carrier sprocket and shaft against rotation for elevating movement of the carrier by the chain until said rail roller rides over the top of the rail to terminate elevating movement, with said cam rotatably supported on said cam roller for releasing said sprocket for rotation to rotate the carrier shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

